All photo’s and Website © 2012 JimSpiri.com, All Rights Reserved
Ten Years Later
#16 "The Hat"
March 15, 2012…Forward Operating Base Edinburgh, Helmand province,
Afghanistan. My hat got destroyed. It was my own fault. I knew better
than to wear it on the flight line as a helicopter is spooled up ready to go.
When I worked helicopter flight lines in Hawaii, I told passengers over
10,000 times never to wear your hat on the flight line. A call came down
at the same time the helicopter was being run up for crew change. For
some reason, it slipped my mind and I thought I was late to get to the
aircraft. So, I sprinted out to the flight line, camera in tow, and my
favorite hat (my yellow New Mexico hat with Zia sun symbol) and headed
to the helicopter knowing full well that was a stupid thing to do. Hat flew
off and was subsequently chopped into several pieces. (Click to See The
HAT close up.) Caution may be too Graphic for Hat Lovers!
Thankfully, none of it was sucked into the intake, or, I may have just
bought a helicopter unexpectedly. The medevac call actually got
cancelled and I sat in my seat waiting for the blades to stop turning. I
felt like an idiot. Everyone saw it happen. My good standing has now
just been damaged by my own stupidity. After it was determined no
damage was done to the helicopter, I was brought the pieces of my hat
with the words, "New Mexico" still intact. I got that look from the
Captain, and then everyone began laughing at me. I was worried I had
just worn out my welcome. Not the case, yet.
There is a new "sheriff" in town. The word has been put out that hats, or
covers as they are called in the military, need to be worn at all times
when roaming about the FOB. It is a matter of mental discipline which
comes in handy when one is stationed in places like Bagram or Kandahar.
There is some debate whether it helps out here in the boondocks or not.
Whatever the case is, my hat is torn to shreds and would look pretty
stupid on my head in its current state. I did manage to bring an extra
one so I now am finding myself, putting it on, taking it off, putting it in
my pocket, losing it, etc. I have no idea what the soldiers I'm around will
be doing with their hats but I can guarantee that none of them will get
their hats ripped off by fast turning rotor blades.
Rule #1…keep control of your hat and do what the sheriff says.
Other than my hat flying off my head yesterday, it was pretty much a non
event day after one of the busiest days ever in Dust Off here in Helmand
province. There have been some events at the larger base that we fly to
from time to time transporting patients, where a local person lit himself
on fire the same day Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was visiting.
Consensus is that the bad guys wanted to make a statement with the
whole matter of the US soldier having gone array and blown away over a
dozen Afghan civilians the other day. Hearts and minds are not exactly
being won over here lately and the political fallout from such things is
ridiculous. It is all part of the things that happen when wars are waged
by politicians, not warriors.
Today, around mid-day, a medevac call came over the air waves. I got to
the helicopter (without my hat) and got buckled in. The crew today would
be Mr. Griego the pilot in command; Mr. Caswell the other pilot; SSGT
Bowen was crew chief; Sgt Petty was the medic; Captain Kraus the flight
nurse and me, the photographer. That's now a job, at least to me. I was
honored to have some of the folks here do a presentation the day
previous at Camp Bastion and were able to use some of my photographs
in their medical power point show. So having me in the "photographer's
seat" has been a plus for all concerned. It really did make my day.
The patient today was an ANA soldier who had part of one arm missing
and the other hand pretty much mangled up. There was a dressing on
his right knee but I am not sure how severe the damage was. He had
blood all over his face. An IED got him and from what I have seen so far,
he's one of the lucky ones to have only lost half an arm. His quality of
life is impaired, but, he can survive with the other three extremities. I
have no idea how the Afghan soldiers who are double and triple
amputees survive in this country after we save their lives.
I don't think Hammad Karzi invites them over to his house.
As I took photos today and looked at the patient, I could not help but
think that he didn't look so bad. He only lost part of one extremity. That
is how one begins to deal with things here. Last month I figured losing
half an arm was horrific. This month I seem to think it's lucky to lose
only half an arm. The patient however did not look like he was thrilled to
have lost part of his arm. He actually looked awful and was in a lot of
pain. Having an IED explode on you is never a good thing.
We dropped the patient off at the big base and returned back to the FOB.
Weather was very hazy and we were once again kind of low level flying on
the way back. Shortly after our return to the FOB, the supply run from
the other location showed up. Lots of the unit was together again and
were all glad to see one another. It is a tightly knit bunch here at
Edinburgh. Little by little the faces change. There is always a constant
flow of people coming in and going out.
I talked for a long time to some of the folks that I had met previously.
Many are preparing to go home soon after a long time of being here. It is
apparent to me that going home is harder than coming here. The op-
tempo here is high, especially when missions are on. I think it is hard to
match this kind of intensity in most jobs. Running out to helicopters and
flying them into hot LZ's and picking up people with arms and legs
missing is something that most folks don't do at their 9-5 jobs. But then
again this is not a 9-5 job. And these folks here aren't your everyday run
of the mill office workers. This is the Dust Off community. They run
around with their hats off to everybody.
My hat's off to 'em all.
Jim Spiri
jimspiri@yahoo.com
ME!